Rajah's Curse

Chapter 26: The Fight

The next morning, Jasmine found the letter and frowned. Without saying a word, she picked up another one of my letters on guild law and compared the two. Then she picked up yet another letter.

The princess's eyes narrowed.

I waited as she continued to scan through a series of letters and notes I had written.

Finally, she said, "Rajah, I need to talk to Prince Ali."

Jasmine swept out of the study and I padded after her.

Here we go.

We found Prince Ali laying in the gardens, basking in the sun. He stood up when he saw us coming.

"Jasmine," he said, "you're-"

The princess didn't let him finish. "What is this," she demanded, thrusting the letter in his face.

"A piece of paper?" he said dumbly.

Jasmine looked like she was about to set him and the letter on fire. "This..." she said in an angry hiss, "is a letter from SA telling me that he is not, in fact, you."

"It's a forgery," the prince said quickly. "It has to be."

I snorted. More lies at a time like this? Really?

This was it. I sat back and watched.

"Ali," Jasmine's voice rose, "Don't you dare lie to me like that."

"I'm not-"

"I thought it seemed unlikely you were SA, but I believed you. I trusted you, but all of yesterday you were lying through your teeth."

"Jasmine, I-"

"You must think I'm pretty gullible, to believe such a tall tale."

"And why is it so unbelievable!" he shot back, suddenly angry. "I'm a prince, aren't I? I'm smart. You have no idea what I'm capable of."

"You're right," she sneered. "I had no idea you were capable of such dishonesty."

"Oh please," he said derisively. "You're not exactly honest yourself. You're the one lying to the kingdom about our wedding. Compare to that, this is nothing."

Nothing?

"Nothing!" Jasmine cried. "Ali, there's a huge difference between political maneuvering and lying to your betrothed."

"Really?" he asked indignantly. "Does your 'secret admirer' know that?"

"What?" She took a step back. "Secret admirer?"

I glared at him. What was he getting at?

"Your precious SA," Ali pressed, "does he know you're betrothed? Because he doesn't act like you're a betrothed woman. He's been getting way too friendly with you recently."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Jasmine said in my defense. "SA has always been professional."

"He's suspicious, Jasmine. You say he's an 'innocent colleague', but he's not. You don't know where he came from or who he is. You can't trust a guy like that. Honestly, I did you a favor by-"

"You did me a favor?" Jasmine said, her anger flaring up again. "Ali, are you even listening to yourself? SA isn't the untrustworthy one. He didn't lie to my face."

"And how would you know?" he shouted. "You don't even know what his face looks like. You don't know anything about him."

"SA might be secretive, but at least he's not claiming to be someone he's not. Unlike you!" Jasmine shouted back. In a brittle voice, she continued, "You were supposed to be different. You were supposed to be the one. I was supposed to be able to trust you, but I can't." Her voice broke and she turned away from him. "You're just like every other prince I've met."